Pontiac tries to block cars from parking in Phoenix Center

That's the City of Pontiac's message to the Ottawa Towers office buildings, whose tenant parks 250 cars daily on the south side of the Phoenix Center parking garage that Emergency Financial Manager Lou Schimmel and Mayor Leon Jukowski want torn down.

On Wednesday, Oakland County Circuit Judge Michael Warren denied a motion by the city for clarification of a preliminary injunction granted by Warren on Nov. 30.

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The injunction puts the demolition of the Phoenix Center on hold while the issue is litigated.

"Quite frankly, judge, we don't think they have any parking rights," said attorney William Horton, who represents the city.

The Ottawa Towers' counsel disagreed.

"A motion to clarify -- there's no such motion under court rules," attorney Michelle Harrell said after the hearing.

Warren sided with Harrell.

"I agree with the responding party that this is not a proper motion," he said.

The judge denied the city's motion for clarification, but indicated it could file a motion for reconsideration.

Jukowski said after the hearing that the city planned to file a new motion by the end of the day Wednesday.

"Our position is they have no legal right to park in the structure: No lease, no license, no easement to park," the mayor said.

Jukowski confirmed that the city sent the Ottawa Towers a notice terminating their parking agreement in November, and said that after a waiting period set by statute ends in January, "they'll clearly have no (parking) rights."

Harrell said the Ottawa Towers "had a lease agreement for parking. They terminated us about a month ago. We have an easement right to park there."

The city's motion sought clarification, the mayor said, and "absent clarification, we will assume Michigan laws pertinent to landlord-tenant matters apply and will proceed accordingly."

"We don't want to kick them out and then have the judge say we didn't have that right," said Schimmel.

The ownership of the Ottawa Towers, which are adjacent to the Phoenix Center, sued Schimmel, the city, Oakland County and the Oakland County Building Authority after Schimmel announced demolition plans for the structure in July.

The Oakland County Building Authority holds title to the Phoenix Center after the county refinanced bonds and issued debt for the city in 2006.

The $2 million demolition contract for the Phoenix Center with Adamo Demolition Co. has not been signed because of the Ottawa Towers litigation.

"It's costing $175,000 a year to maintain it as a disaster," Schimmel said of the Phoenix Center. "(It would) cost $8 million to bring it up to where it's safe."

Steven Sallen, who is co-counsel with Harrell, said the $8 million figure is inflated.

"The Phoenix Center is in generally very good shape, but has suffered from Pontiac's deferring (of) annual maintenance, and from the recent vandalism that damaged the power supply to (the) premises' lighting," he said.

"What little maintenance has been done in recent years was done by our clients, and at their own expense, because Pontiac is unresponsive to maintenance requests."

The Michigan Department of Human Services is a tenant at the Ottawa Tower I at 51111 Woodward Ave., while Ottawa Tower II at 31 East Judson St. is vacant. The buildings were occupied by General Motors Corp. for many years after their construction in the early 1980s.

Harrell said during the hearing that the Department of Human Services clients include victims of domestic violence, who like the privacy of the parking garage.

The Phoenix Center's electrical system was recently damaged by metal scrappers who removed copper wiring, leaving the structure in the dark and leading the city to indefinitely close the section of Orchard Lake Road that runs underneath the parking garage.

Harrell said lights that use power from the Ottawa Towers have been strung up on the south side of the parking garage.

"They're doing that at their own risk. It's a code violation and I'll leave it at that," Jukowski said.

The city has estimated the cost of repairing the electrical damage to be $276,000.